Middle Eastern history Books

Book SynopsisTrade Review"Powerful and illuminating." * Prospect Magazine *"The Other Air Force stands as a helpful study on the subtle ways U.S. government agencies try to advance their own agendas under the pretext of development and community support. By shedding light on the resourcefulness and creativity of those who work within the circumscribed boundaries of such projects, it also precludes simplistic classifications of such people as native informants working on behalf of their oppressors, highlighting instead the everyday resistance that soft-psy media inevitably provokes." * The New Inquiry *"Sienkiewicz’s ability to pack both granular history and broad theory into a concise package makes his book a rare treat among academic titles." * The Bridge *"The Other Air Force is one of the best books I've read in years. Matt Sienkiewicz's close look at the hard-core sell of 'soft-psy media' details how the U.S. persuades invaded, occupied, and colonized peoples to make media that advances America's interests and yet still appears to be under local control. Sienkiewicz examines carefully who is really behind the curtain, pulling strings and pressing buttons in the US theatre of soft-psy media. All is not as it seems when creating the American dream." -- Mohammed Omer * award winning journalist and author of Shell-Shocked: On the Ground Under Israel's Gaza Assault *"Interesting and deeply relevant … Its purview is quite remarkable - taking in media of all kinds across the Middle East." * The New Arab * "The Other Air Force is a timely and extremely valuable contribution to the fields of Media Studies and International Relations. It should be read by students, scholars, journalists, policy makers, and anyone else interested in understanding how media and politics are intertwined in the conflict zones of the Middle East." -- Dina Matar * author of What It Means to Be a Palestinian *"By way of fine-grained, field-based case studies of US-assisted Afghan and Palestinian media, The Other Air Force recasts development communication through the prism of media assistance, and in doing so, demonstrates how global US hegemony goes hand in hand with local creativity. Made concrete by an appealing cast of mediators, enforcers, and cultural conmen, Sienkiewicz’s notion of 'Soft-Psy Media' is a welcome addition to the theoretical and pedagogical toolkits of global communication studies." -- Marwan Kraidy * author of The Naked Blogger of Cairo: Creative Insurgency in the Arab World *"The Other Air Force is innovatively conceptualized and meticulously researched. Anyone interested in media, culture, and politics in the Middle East after 9/11 will be turning to this book for years to come." -- Aswin Punathambekar * University of Michigan-Ann Arbor *"With striking case studies and scient attention to the complex interplay of top-down strategy and policies, bottom-up resistance and negotiations along with labor, gender, and geopolitics, Sienkiewicz’s book offers an indispensable guide for researchers in communication and Middle Eastern studies." -- Ipek A. Celik Rappas * Film International *"In provoking such questions and by introducing new interpretations of U.S. media strategy in the region, Sienkiewicz’s book is a welcome contribution to the fields of Middle East studies, media and cultural studies, as well as postcolonial studies." * Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction: Soft-Psy Media as U.S. Strategy Chapter 1: Shopping for Grocers: The Origins of Middle Eastern Soft-Psy Media Chapter 2: Our Men in Kabul and Bethlehem: Saad Mohseni and Raed Othman Chapter 3: Kind of Con Men: Self-Interest, Soft-Psy Media, and Resistance Chapter 4: Soft-Psy Media Under Cover: The Question of Gender Chapter 5: Mediating Mediations: Meta-Media, the Middle East, and Soft-Psy Strategy Conclusion: The Trajectory of Soft-Psy Media from 9/11 to Today Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisBrings together thirty-nine essays from experienced educators who reflect on the challenges of engaging students in college classrooms. Divided into seven sections, these personal essays cover a broad range of institutional and geographical settings, as well as a wide number of academic disciplines.

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Book SynopsisAgainst the methodological backdrop of historical and comparative folk narrative research, 101 Middle Eastern Tales and Their Impact on Western Oral Tradition surveys the history, dissemination, and characteristics of over one hundred narratives transmitted to Western tradition from or by the Middle Eastern Muslim literatures.

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Book SynopsisSepher Yosippon was written in Hebrew by a medieval historian noted by modern scholars for its eloquent style. This is the first known chronicle of Jewish history and legend from Adam to the destruction of the Second Temple, this is the first known text since the canonical histories written by Flavius Josephus in Greek and later translated by Christian scholars into Latin. Sepher Yosippon has been cited and referred to by scholars, poets, and authors as the authentic source for ancient Israel for over a millennium, until overshadowed by the twentieth-century Hebrew translations of Josephus. It is based on Pseudo Hegesippus''s fourth-century anti-Jewish summary of Josephus''s Jewish War. However, the anonymous author [a.k.a. Joseph ben Gurion Hacohen] also consulted with the Latin versions of Josephus''s works available to him. At the same time, he included a wealth of Second Temple literature as well as Roman and Christian sources. This book contains Steven

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Book SynopsisFinalist for the 2016 National Translation Award given by the American Literary Translators'' AssociationThe life, birth, and early years of ''the Fariyaq''the alter ego of the Arab intellectual Ahmad Faris al-ShidyaqLeg over Leg recounts the life, from birth to middle age, of the Fariyaq,' alter ego of Ahmad Faris al-Shidyaq, a pivotal figure in the intellectual and literary history of the modern Arab world. The always edifying and often hilarious adventures of the Fariyaq, as he moves from his native Lebanon to Egypt, Malta, Tunis, England and France, provide the author with grist for wide-ranging discussions of the intellectual and social issues of his time, including the ignorance and corruption of the Lebanese religious and secular establishments, freedom of conscience, women's rights, sexual relationships between men and women, the manners and customs of Europeans and Middle Easterners, and the differences between contemporary European anTrade Review...Leg over Leg by the Lebanese intellectual Ahmad Faris al-Shidyaq, [has] long been held to be untranslatable and so [is] appearing, in [its] entirety, in English for the first time. -- Lydia Wilson * Times Literary Supplement *Leg over Leg will eventually be acknowledged as one of the most important translations of the twenty-first century... Humphrey Davies's virtuosic work (which he compared to climbing Mount Everest) gives English readers access at last to a quintessential novel of the era of Arabic literature's Nahda, or reawakening, and to one of the most profoundly humanist voices in literature. -- Patricia Storace * Times Literary Supplement *Humphrey Davies's translation, published in four dual-language volumes, is a triumph. He skillfully renders punning, rhyming prose without breaking the spell. Leg over Leg stands out for both its stylistic brazenness and the excellence of the translation. With this bilingual edition, the Library of Arabic Literature helps fill a large cultural gap and alters our view of Arabic literature and the formal trajectory of the novel outside the West. Any reader for whom the term 'world literature' is more than an empty platitude must read Humphrey Davies's translation. -- John Yargo * Los Angeles Review of Books *We're having a particularly good season for literary discoveries from the past, with recent publications of Volumes 1 and 2 of Ahmad Faris al-Shidyaq's 'Leg over Leg' (1855)… -- Martin Riker * New York Times Book Review *With this impressive edition and translation, Humphrey Davies has rendered one of the most challenging texts of Arabic literature, al-Shidyaq's al-Saq 'ala l-saq, accessible to a wide range of readers for the first time... The reader is plunged into al-Shidyaq's critical, humorous, uninhibited, sometimes bitter but profoundly humane, and utterly original masterpiece. -- Hilary Kilpatrick * Journal of the American Oriental Society *Al-Shidyaq, born in Lebanon in the early years of the nineteenth century, was a Zelig of the Arabic literary world, and his Leg over Leg is a bawdy, hilarious, epically word-obsessed, and unclassifiable book, which has never been translated into English before. -- Sal Robinson * Moby Lives *It is not too early to state that the publication of this work, in this edition, is a game-changer. This is a foundational work of modern Arabic literature and its publication in English is long overdue but given how it is presented here, it was perhaps worth the wait. This edition, with helpful endnotes, the original Arabic text, and in a translation that both reads well and appears to closely mirror the original, seems, in almost every way, ideal. I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that this is the most important literary publication of a translation into English, in terms of literary history and our understanding of it, in years. * The Complete Review *Humphrey Davies's masterful translation makes accessible this unique and fascinating work, deserving of wider recognition and study... The translation adroitly and sympathetically captures the linguistic exuberance and literary inventiveness of the original. * Banipal Magazine *The heroic achievement of award-winning translator Humphrey Davies marks the first ever English translation of this pivotal work... An accessible, informative, and highly entertaining read. * Banipal Magazine *Its contemporaneity is astonishing... It would be doing Leg over Leg a massive disservice to not make it clear how funny it is. This is a book that for all its challenges, all its insight into humanity, all its place in history, had me regularly laughing out loud. * Music and Literature *Table of ContentsForeword ixA Note on the Text xxxiThe Dedication of This Elegantly Eloquent Book 6Author's Notice 8An Introduction by the Publisher of This Book 16Proem 20Raising a Storm 36A Bruising Fall and a Protecting Shawl 64Various Amusing Anecdotes 72Troubles and a Tambour 84A Priest and a Pursie, Dragging Pockets and Dry Grazing 92Food and Feeding Frenzies 108A Donkey that Brayed, a Journey Made, a Hope Delayed 116Bodega, Brethren, and Board 124Unseemly Conversations and Crooked Contestations 134Angering Women Who Dart Sideways Looks, and Clawslike Hooks 148That Which Is Long and Broad 162A Dish and an Itch 174A Maqamah, or, a Maqamah on "Chapter 13" 190A Sacrament 202The Priest's Tale 212The Priest's Tale Continued 222Snow 244Bad Luck 254Emotion and Motion 282The Difference between Market-men and Bag-men 312Notes 321Glossary 351Index 355About the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute 366About the Typefaces 367About the Editor-Translator 368

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Book SynopsisAuthoritative and reliable editions of the Arabic and modern, lucid English translations introducing treasures of the Arabic literary heritageTrade ReviewWith this masterful edition and translation of The Principles of Sufism, Homerin makes available to the English-reading public the most important work of al-Baʿuniyyah, a 16th-century scholar and mystic who lived in Damascus for most of her life. . . . Homerin's elegant and readable translation is made especially valuable by the side-by-side presentation of the Arabic and English texts. He offers a brief overview of al-Baʿuniyyah's life and work, positioning her as one of the greatest women scholars in Muslim history. * Choice *This bilingual edition brings to English readership a rare feast: a short treatise on four fundamentals of the Sufi path--Repentance, Sincerity, Remembrance, and Love--strung together with copious quotations from the works of great masters. * Islamic Sciences *Th. Emil Homerin's recent contribution to the field of Sufi studies and Islamic studies generally is his discovery of 'A'ishah al-Bauniyyah this truly remarkable mystical poetess whose mastery of Sufi poetic diction, intellectual tradition and imagery is fascinating. * Der Islam *Homerin's work is an outstanding example of superb translation and editing. Homerin offers the original Arabic manuscript in addition to his translation, which brings to life and grants direct access into the subtleties of original language for non-Arab readership. * Journal of Religion History *An outstanding example of superb translation and editing. * Journal of Religious Studies *Brings to English-speaking audiences a fascinating piece written by one of the most remarkable figures of post-classical Islam. * Journal of Sufi Studies *The translation of the prose and poems is excellent, and both the expert and the general reader can profit from the lucid presentation of the text in English. No doubt, this book is a great contribution to the study of Sufism in the Mamluk period. . . . Homerin deserves our gratitude for bringing to our knowledge 'A'isha al-Ba'uniyyah and for presenting an outstanding edition and translation of one of her treatises. * Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam *Table of ContentsLetter from the General Editor iiiAbbreviations xAcknowledgments xiIntroduction xiiiA Note on the Text xxNotes to the Introduction xxThe Principles of Sufism 1The First Principle: Repentance (Tawbah) 6The Second Principle: Sincerity (Ikhla?) 36The Third Principle: Remembrance (Dhikr) 62The Fourth Principle: Love (Ma?abbah) 96Epilogue on Love 142Notes 167Glossary of Names and Terms 177Bibliography 188Further Reading 191Index 192About the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute 198About the Typefaces 199About the Editor-Translator 200

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Book SynopsisA robust defense of a poetic geniusAbu Tammam (d. 231 or 232/845 or 846) is one of the most celebrated poets in the Arabic language. Born in Syria to Greek Christian parents, he converted to Islam and quickly made his name as one of the premier Arabic poets in the caliphal court of Baghdad, promoting a new style of poetry that merged abstract and complex imagery with archaic Bedouin language. Both highly controversial and extremely popular, this sophisticated verse influenced all subsequent poetry in Arabic and epitomized the modern style (badi?), an avant-garde aesthetic that was very much in step with the intellectual, artistic, and cultural vibrancy of the Abbasid dynasty.In The Life and Times of Abu Tammam, translated into English for the first time, the courtier and scholar Abu Bakr Mu?ammad ibn Ya?yaal-?uli (d. 335 or 336/946 or 947) mounts a robust defense of modern poetry and of Abu Tammam's significance as a poet against his detractors, whilTrade ReviewAnother welcome addition to the Library of Arabic Literature....In the field of Arabic poetry and poetics in general, and classical Arabic poetry and criticism in particular, I expect the impact of this project to be groundbreaking. The study of Arabic poetry, both modern and classical, has the potential of being significantly affected by the introduction of voices like al-Sulis, especially when presented in fresh and timely translations as is the case here. -- Hoda Fakhreddine * Journal of the American Oriental Society *

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Book SynopsisOne of the most unusual books in classical Arabic literature, The Epistle of Forgiveness is the lengthy reply by the prolific Syrian poet and prose writer, Abu l-''Ala'' al-Ma''arri (d. 449/1057), to a letter by an obscure grammarian, Ibn al-Qarih. With biting irony, The Epistle of Forgiveness mocks Ibn al-Qarih's hypocrisy and sycophancy by imagining he has died and arrived with some difficulty in Heaven, where he meets famous poets and philologists from the past. He also glimpses Hell, and converses with the Devil and various heretics. Al-Ma''arria maverick, a vegan, and often branded a heretic himselfseems to mock popular ideas about the Hereafter. This second volume is a point-by-point reply to Ibn al-Qarih's letter using al-Ma''arri's characteristic mixture of erudition, irony, and admonition, enlivened with anecdotes and poems. Among other things, he writes about hypocrites; heretical poets, princes, rebels, and mystics; apostates; piety; superstition; the Trade ReviewVan Gelder and Schoeler present one of the most complex and unusual texts in Arabic literature, by al-Ma'arri (d. 1057 AD), maverick, poet and vegetarian. * Banipal Magazine *

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Book SynopsisThis is a study of Arab writers such as Ghada al-Samman, Hanan al-Shaikh, Emily Nasrallah and Etel Adnan. It presents a constructive literary approach to the ravages of the civil war in the Lebanon. The ways in which women's consciousness is awakened in terms of female liberation is a theme.

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Book SynopsisRegarding the constitution of ""other-ness"", this work examines the pedagogical, political and discursive practice of post-World War II Iranian intellectuals. It shows how clerics, secular and lay religious intellectuals confronted a dual sense of ""other-ness"" which resulted in dissent and nativism.Trade ReviewMehrzad Boroujerdi's Iranian Intellectuals And The West: The Tormented Triumph Of Nativism challenges the way many Americans perceive present-day Iran as well as how many Iranians view the West. Drawing on the works of Michel Foucault and Edward Said, Iranian Intellectuals And The West explore how Iranians use their own misunderstandings about the West to form their own identity and, in return, how Westerners describe Iran in negative terms to help them reaffirm the superiority of their own culture. Examining the works of thinkers seminal in defining modern Iran, Boroujerdi examines this nativist vision of an unsullied culture, seemly free of Western influence. Iranian Intellectuals And The West is informative, exceptional well researched and written, and will provide essential insights for the study of contemporary Iranian politics, society, and the influence of the west on a complex Islamic nation." — Midwest Book Review

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Book SynopsisSimin Behbahani’s collection contains some of the most formative work of twentieth-century Persian literature. Written over almost a half-century, much of her poetry reflects the traumatic experiences that have shaped Iranian history: revolution and war.Trade ReviewBehbahani . . . blends Eastern and Western cultures, leaps from one time period to another, switches back and forth from masculine forms, and imbues the lines with multiple layers of meaning." - The Miami Herald"The translation is remarkable for its craftiness and fluency. . . . The poems are sure to impress the American reader with their honesty, technical precision, rhythmic quality, and compassionate concern for the underdog." - World Literature Today"Simin is proof that Scheherazade is among us, reincarnated in millions of us, Muslim women, sculpting the world we want simply by weaving words. Scheherazade changed the violent king by feeding him soft words. She did not shout, she just murmured stories in the nights." - Fatima Mernissi, author of Dreams of Trespass

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Book SynopsisIn this volume, 15 Iranian women talk intimately about all aspects of their lives, from domestic concerns to professional issues. The women - the eldest of whom is in her 50s, the youngest, 38 - explore their relationships, reflect on courtship and marriage, and address childcare and employment.Trade Review"Women and their concerns have gained tremendous significance. It is like a flood. The flood is roaring." - Tara, from Voices from Iran

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Book SynopsisExamines Egyptian family history in a comparative and transnational context, addressing issues of colonial modernity and colonial knowledge, Islamic law and legal reform, social history, and the history of women and gender.

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Book SynopsisThis work examines reformations of Islam and culture in Turkey and the successful Islamic modernist Fethullah Gulen movement.

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Book SynopsisExamining Kurdish nationalism as a function of diverse political spaces, this book analyzes the formation of Kurdish national identity. In tracing the evolution of Kurdish nationalism, the author shows that, contrary to popular theories, there is nothing natural or fixed about Kurdish identity or the configuration that Kurdish nationalism assumes.Trade ReviewThis is the first comprehensive analysis of the development of Kurdayeti, or Kurdish identity and nationalism, across the 20th century, with some prognostications of further development during the first decades of the 21st century. . . . Essential. An important, sophisticated work that goes far beyond many lesser studies and will be read with benefit by all scholars and others interested in the Kurdish problem. The author is to be congratulated for her major contribution.

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Trade ReviewOver the past century and a half, numerous Middle Eastern Muslim, Christian, and Jewish communities have experienced marginalization, violence, and ultimately displacement. These conflicts have led many to the mistaken conclusion that an endemic, immutable religious intolerance plagues the region. By contextualizing a selection of local experiences, the essays included in this book offer an important corrective.""—Joshua Schreier, associate professor of history, Vassar College

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Book SynopsisThe Ottoman poet Mihrî Hatun (1460-1515) succeeded in drawing an admiring audience and considerable renown during a time when few women were accepted into male-dominated intellectual circles. Placing the poet in the context of her era and environment, Havliog?lu finds that the poet's dramatic, masterful performance and subversiveness are the very reasons for her endurance.

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Book SynopsisIn October 1875, two months after the takeover of the Somali coastal town of Zeila, an Egyptian force numbering 1,200 soldiers departed from the city to occupy Harar, a prominent Muslim hub in the Horn of Africa. In Emirate, Egyptian, Ethiopian, Ben-Dror tells the story of Turco-Egyptian colonial ambitions and the processes that integrated Harar into the global system of commerce.

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Book SynopsisIn October 1875, two months after the takeover of the Somali coastal town of Zeila, an Egyptian force numbering 1,200 soldiers departed from the city to occupy Harar, a prominent Muslim hub in the Horn of Africa. In Emirate, Egyptian, Ethiopian, Ben-Dror tells the story of Turco-Egyptian colonial ambitions and the processes that integrated Harar into the global system of commerce.

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Book SynopsisExplores the politics of religious engagement in the public sphere by comparing two modernist conservative movements: the Mormon Church in the US and the Gülen movement in Turkey. The book traces the public activities and activism of these two influential and controversial actors at the state, political society, and civil society domains.

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Book SynopsisIn Egypt, something that fails to live up to its advertised expectations is often called a watermelon. The political transition in Egypt after protests overthrew Husni Mubarak is one such watermelon. Stacher examines the uprising and its aftermath to show how the country's new ruling incumbents deferred the democratic dreams of the people of Egypt.

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Book SynopsisIn Egypt, something that fails to live up to its advertised expectations is often called a watermelon. The political transition in Egypt after protests overthrew Husni Mubarak is one such watermelon. Stacher examines the uprising and its aftermath to show how the country's new ruling incumbents deferred the democratic dreams of the people of Egypt.Table of Contents List of Illustrations Preface: A Watermelon Democracy Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Retiring Mubarak: Protests, Opposition Relations, and Incumbent Ejection 2. Electoral Recalibration? Transitional Elections and Disempowerment 3. State Violence as Life: Regime-Making and Counterrevolution 4. An Uprising against Neoliberalism? The State, Military Inc., and the Political Economy of Egypt Conclusion

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Book SynopsisContrary to the prevailing opinion that autocratic parliaments are meaningless, token institutions, Weipert-Fenner's long-term analysis shows that parliament can be an indicator, catalyst, and agent of change in an authoritarian regime.

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Book SynopsisAlthough decades of scholarship have critiqued traditional binaries of developed and undeveloped in Arab studies, the narrative of 1798 symbolizing the coming of the modern west to the rescue of the static east endures. This book takes stock of this dominant paradigm, interrogating its origins and the ways in which scholarship perpetuates it.

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Book SynopsisAlthough decades of scholarship have critiqued traditional binaries of developed and undeveloped in Arab studies, the narrative of 1798 symbolizing the coming of the modern west to the rescue of the static east endures. This book takes stock of this dominant paradigm, interrogating its origins and the ways in which scholarship perpetuates it.

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Book SynopsisShahrokh Meskoob was one of Iran's leading intellectuals and a preeminent scholar of Persian literary traditions, language, and cultural identity. In The Ant's Gift, Meskoob applies his insight and considerable analytical skills to the Shahnameh, the national epic of Iran completed in 1010 by the poet Abul-Qusem Ferdowsi.

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Book SynopsisRooted in the world historical methodology of John O. Voll, this collection brings together a diverse group of scholars to investigate the ongoing impact of revival and reform movements beginning in the eighteenth century and continuing through to the present.Trade ReviewA wonderfully unified collection in light of the scholarship of John O. Voll and the various historiographical and intellectual trends reflected in Islamic Studies during his lifetime. This volume establishes John Voll as the natural inheritor of Marshall Hodgson’s legacy, and as the foremost living scholar of Islam in its transhistorical and global dimensions. That his work has inspired and informed scholars working across such a wide range of topics and settings—both historical and contemporary—speaks to the depth and breadth of hisinfluence. These first class "Essays Inspired by John O. Voll" are a testimonial to Voll's impact both on scholarship internationally and on hisformer students who are now established scholars in academia. A brilliant reflection of a brilliant career….Through detailed analysis of diverse localized dynamics in global context, this collection demonstrates Voll’s enduring contributions to the study of modern Islamic history.

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Ignored by scholars and disdained by the local intelligentsia as fluff, Egyptian pop (shababiyya) videos are streamed nonstop on local satellite television and loved by millions throughout the Middle East. Daniel J. Gilman’s is the first serious scholarly account of Egyptian pop, and it is a tour de force. Based on interviews with Cairo fans, he manages to convince us of shababiyya’s significance, explain its position in the music hierarchy, and explain why young listeners so appreciate its ‘sincerity’ and its modernity. An essential read." —Ted Swedenburg, University of Arkansas"An erudite examination of the interplay among pop culture, society and national identity."—George de Stefano, Pop Matters"Gilman succeeds in taking on a huge task, parsing out at an exceptional level the relationships found between a variety of musical styles and their fan bases. Indeed, by querying “What is Egyptian music?” he is in truth raising a far greater question, namely: “What is Egypt?” (p. 127)."—Middle East Media and Book Reviews Online"This book’s timeliness and relevance to contemporary Egyptian social and political forces make it an essential read for anthropologists, folklorists, and ethnomusicologists interested in the contemporary Middle East."—EthnomusicologyTable of ContentsContentsPrefaceAcknowledgmentsNote on Transliteration and PseudonymsIntroduction: Good Music, Bad Music, and Youth Music1. “My Patience Is Short”: Youth Talk about Grandpa’s Music2. “Oh, My Brown-skinned Darling”: Sex, Music, and Egyptian-ness3. “The Hardest Thing to Say”: Taxonomies of Aesthetics4. “A Poem Befitting of Her”: Ambiguity and Sincerity in Revolutionary Pop CultureEpilogue: On the Counter-RevolutionNotesGlossaryBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewNahum Goldmann, Zionist leader, diplomat, the founder of the World Jewish Congress and its president for many years, enjoyed one of the most disputed reputations in Zionist circles.... [in this book], Goldmann emerges as an interesting personality, a bon-vivant, a brilliant conversationalist, and a most gifted diplomat. - Jewish Quarterly Review; ""Recommended to all who are interested in exploring the life of one of the most interesting Jews of the century."" - Choice

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Book SynopsisDivine Expectations presents the account of Clorinda Minor, a charismatic American Christian woman whose belief in the Second Coming prompted her to leave a comfortable life in Philadelphia in 1851 and take up agriculture in Palestine.

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Book SynopsisExamines the "golden age" of the culture of the Ottoman empire in the 16th century, exploring sexuality, gender and literary society, as well as the demographics, economics, politics, society of love and other cultural productions of the Ottomans. In partTrade Review“The Age of Beloveds is a treasure and a masterpiece. With breathtakingly extensive original research, it is beautifully written, in a style both inviting and impressive. It is the fruit of a lifetime’s project to add Ottoman literature to the canons of world literature.”—Victoria Holbrook, author of The Unreadable Shores of Love: Turkish Modernity and Mystic Romance“The Age of Beloveds is a unique and powerful book. There is nothing remotely like this out there and yet as one reads it one is struck by the dire need for the sort of basic information and insights it provides about the other half of the Mediterranean during the early modern period.”—María Rosa Menocal, author of Shards of Love: Exile and the Origins of the Lyric“A wonderful and brave book that is so fun to read. . . . An astonishing account of love and the beloved where they intersect with sex, spirituality, politics and power. . . . Amazing!”—Orhan Pamuk, author of the novels Snow and My Name Is RedTable of ContentsPreface ix A Guide to Ottoman Turkish Transcription, Pronunciation, Names, and Titles xi 1. Introduction 1 2. Beloved Boys (and Girls) 32 3. Love Scripts I, Male Bonding 59 4. Love Scripts II, Poems about Poetry about Love 85 5. Love, Sex, and Poetry 113 6. Women and the Art of Love 163 7. Seduction and Reversal 217 8. To Die For...: Love and Violence in the Age of the Beloveds 251 9. Love, Law and Religion 270 10. The End of an Age 304 11. Renaissance, Renaissances, and the Age of the Beloveds 329 Appendix: Ottoman Sultans during the Age of the Beloveds 355 Notes 357 Glossary of Ottoman Terms 389 Bibliography 393 Index 411

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Book SynopsisExamines the "golden age" of the culture of the Ottoman empire in the 16th century, exploring sexuality, gender and literary society, as well as the demographics, economics, politics, society of love and other cultural productions of the Ottomans. In partTrade Review“The Age of Beloveds is a treasure and a masterpiece. With breathtakingly extensive original research, it is beautifully written, in a style both inviting and impressive. It is the fruit of a lifetime’s project to add Ottoman literature to the canons of world literature.”—Victoria Holbrook, author of The Unreadable Shores of Love: Turkish Modernity and Mystic Romance“The Age of Beloveds is a unique and powerful book. There is nothing remotely like this out there and yet as one reads it one is struck by the dire need for the sort of basic information and insights it provides about the other half of the Mediterranean during the early modern period.”—María Rosa Menocal, author of Shards of Love: Exile and the Origins of the Lyric“A wonderful and brave book that is so fun to read. . . . An astonishing account of love and the beloved where they intersect with sex, spirituality, politics and power. . . . Amazing!”—Orhan Pamuk, author of the novels Snow and My Name Is RedTable of ContentsPreface ix A Guide to Ottoman Turkish Transcription, Pronunciation, Names, and Titles xi 1. Introduction 1 2. Beloved Boys (and Girls) 32 3. Love Scripts I, Male Bonding 59 4. Love Scripts II, Poems about Poetry about Love 85 5. Love, Sex, and Poetry 113 6. Women and the Art of Love 163 7. Seduction and Reversal 217 8. To Die For...: Love and Violence in the Age of the Beloveds 251 9. Love, Law and Religion 270 10. The End of an Age 304 11. Renaissance, Renaissances, and the Age of the Beloveds 329 Appendix: Ottoman Sultans during the Age of the Beloveds 355 Notes 357 Glossary of Ottoman Terms 389 Bibliography 393 Index 411

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Book SynopsisThe first of 4 volumes in the definitive history of Iranian filmTrade Review“While the first two volumes that I have had the pleasure to review here are indeed comprehensive, covering great depth and breadth, I find Naficy to be a very open, collegial scholar whose work certainly does not close down the field. Rather, at times, Naficy openly signals that more research is still to be conducted into certain areas ensuring that the field of Iranian cinema studies may live on with vital and vibrant energy. Graduate students in particular should take heed of these openings in the text, for therein lie great possibilities for future, compelling and original scholarship in the field.... I can only conclude my review by emphasizing what I said in my opening comment: this is rich, compelling, and complex scholarship at its very finest. Thanks Hamid!” - Michelle Langford, Senses of Cinema“These volumes reveal the unspoken side of Iranian culture, society and history within the context of film and cinema. This marvellously detailed account of Iranian cinema is a must-read for anyone who is interested in understanding Iran in the past and present, a true story of a long-term, ongoing revolution in Iranian culture, society and film.” - Arezou Zalipour, Media International Australia“A Social History of Iranian Cinema is an extraordinary achievement, a scholarly, detailed work in which a massive amount of material is handled with the lightest touch. Yet it is Hamid Naficy’s personal experience and investment that give this project a particular distinction. Only a skilled historian, one who is on the inside of his story, could convey so vividly the symbolic significance of cinema for twentieth-century Iran and its deep intertwining with national culture and politics.”—Laura Mulvey, author of Death 24× a Second: Stillness and the Moving Image“Hamid Naficy is already established as the doyen of historians, as well as critics, of Iranian cinema. Based on his deep understanding of modern Iranian political and social history, this detailed critical study of cinema in Iran since its debut more than a century ago is his crowning achievement. To say that it is a must-read for virtually all concerned with modern Iranian history, and not just cinema and the arts, is to state the obvious.”—Homa Katouzian, author of The Persians: Ancient, Mediaeval and Modern Iran“Hamid Naficy seamlessly brings together a century of Iran’s cinematic history, marking its technological advancements and varying genres and storytelling techniques, and perceptively addressing its sociopolitical impact on the formation of Iran’s national identity. A Social History of Iranian Cinema is essential reading not only for the cinephile interested in Iran’s unique and rich cinematic history but also for anyone wanting a deeper understanding of the cataclysmic events and metamorphoses that have shaped Iran, from the pivotal Constitutional Revolution that ushered in the twentieth century, through the Islamic Revolution, and into the twenty-first century.”—Shirin Neshat, visual artist, filmmaker, and director of the film Women Without Men“This magisterial four-volume study of Iranian cinema will be the defining work on the topic for a long time to come. Situating film within its sociopolitical context, Hamid Naficy covers the period leading up to the Constitutional Revolution and continues after the Islamic Revolution, examining questions about modernity, globalization, Islam, and feminism along the way. A Social History of Iranian Cinema is a guide for our thinking about cinema and society and the ways that the creative expression of film should be examined as part of a wider engagement with social issues.”—Annabelle Sreberny, coauthor of Blogistan: The Internet and Politics in Iran“These volumes reveal the unspoken side of Iranian culture, society and history within the context of film and cinema. This marvellously detailed account of Iranian cinema is a must-read for anyone who is interested in understanding Iran in the past and present, a true story of a long-term, ongoing revolution in Iranian culture, society and film.” -- Arezou Zalipour * Media International Australia *“While the first two volumes that I have had the pleasure to review here are indeed comprehensive, covering great depth and breadth, I find Naficy to be a very open, collegial scholar whose work certainly does not close down the field. Rather, at times, Naficy openly signals that more research is still to be conducted into certain areas ensuring that the field of Iranian cinema studies may live on with vital and vibrant energy. Graduate students in particular should take heed of these openings in the text, for therein lie great possibilities for future, compelling and original scholarship in the field.... I can only conclude my review by emphasizing what I said in my opening comment: this is rich, compelling, and complex scholarship at its very finest. Thanks Hamid!” -- Michelle Langford * Senses of Cinema *“The four volumes of A Social History of Iranian Cinema constitute a landmark achievement. . . . For students of Iranian cinema, I can think of no better place to begin than these four volumes. The sheer expansiveness of Naficy’s project is a testimony to the untold narratives, theoretical paradigms, and concepts waiting to be found in the ongoing history of Iranian cinema.” -- Sara Saljoughi * International Journal of Middle East Studies *Table of ContentsList of Illustrations ix Acknowledgments xiii Organization of the Volumes xxi A Word about Illustrations xxvii Preface. How It All Began xxix Introduction. National Cinema, Modernity, and Iranian National Identity 1 1. Artisanal Silent Cinema in the Qajar Period 27 2. Ideological and Spectatorial Formations 71 3. State Formation and Nonfiction Cinema: Syncretic Westernization during the First Pahlavi Period 141 4. A Transitional Cinema: The Feature Film Industry and Sound Cinema 197 5. Modernity's Ambivalent Subjectivity: Dandies and the Dandy Movie Genre 277 Notes 309 Bibliography 343 Index 371

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Book SynopsisIn the fourth and final volume of A History of Iranian Cinema, Hamid Naficy looks at the extraordinary efflorescence in Iranian film and other visual media since the Islamic Revolution.Trade Review"A Social History of Iranian Cinema is an extraordinary achievement, a scholarly, detailed work in which a massive amount of material is handled with the lightest touch. Yet it is Hamid Naficy's personal experience and investment that give this project a particular distinction. Only a skilled historian, one who is on the inside of his story, could convey so vividly the symbolic significance of cinema for twentieth-century Iran and its deep intertwining with national culture and politics."—Laura Mulvey, author of Death 24× a Second: Stillness and the Moving Image"Hamid Naficy is already established as the doyen of historians, as well as critics, of Iranian cinema. Based on his deep understanding of modern Iranian political and social history, this detailed critical study of cinema in Iran since its debut more than a century ago is his crowning achievement. To say that it is a must-read for virtually all concerned with modern Iranian history, and not just cinema and the arts, is to state the obvious."—Homa Katouzian, author of The Persians: Ancient, Mediaeval and Modern Iran"Hamid Naficy seamlessly brings together a century of Iran's cinematic history, marking its technological advancements and varying genres and storytelling techniques, and perceptively addressing its sociopolitical impact on the formation of Iran's national identity. A Social History of Iranian Cinema is essential reading not only for the cinephile interested in Iran's unique and rich cinematic history but also for anyone wanting a deeper understanding of the cataclysmic events and metamorphoses that have shaped Iran, from the pivotal Constitutional Revolution that ushered in the twentieth century, through the Islamic Revolution, and into the twenty-first century."—Shirin Neshat, visual artist, filmmaker, and director of the film Women Without Men"This magisterial four-volume study of Iranian cinema will be the defining work on the topic for a long time to come. Situating film within its sociopolitical context, Hamid Naficy covers the period leading up to the Constitutional Revolution and continues after the Islamic Revolution, examining questions about modernity, globalization, Islam, and feminism along the way. A Social History of Iranian Cinema is a guide for our thinking about cinema and society and the ways that the creative expression of film should be examined as part of a wider engagement with social issues."—Annabelle Sreberny, coauthor of Blogistan: The Internet and Politics in Iran“The major strength of the book lies in a vast array of information and examples with a picturesque description of life and society in Iran and cinema that has found numerous platforms all over the world. The scrupulousness with which these histories unfold and develop, coupled with the author’s profound understanding of the milieu, and its media and film, makes this book a must read for anyone interested in contemporary Iran and its extraordinary cinema.” -- Arezou Zalipour * Media International Australia *“[A]n important intervention in Iranian film studies. Naficy has conducted significant research for them while providing new insights on and revisions of his earlier writings.” -- Pedram Partovi * Iranian Studies *“The four volumes of A Social History of Iranian Cinema constitute a landmark achievement. . . . For students of Iranian cinema, I can think of no better place to begin than these four volumes. The sheer expansiveness of Naficy’s project is a testimony to the untold narratives, theoretical paradigms, and concepts waiting to be found in the ongoing history of Iranian cinema.” -- Sara Saljoughi * International Journal of Middle East Studies *Table of ContentsIllustrations xi Acknowledgments xv Organization of the Volumes xxi A Word about Illustrations xxvii Abbreviations xxix 1. The Resurgence of Nonfiction Cinema: Postrevolutionary Documentaries and Fiction War Films 1 2. Under Cover, on Screen: Women's Representation and Women's Cinema 92 3. All Certainties Melt into Thin Air: Art-House Cinema, a "Postal" Cinema 175 4. Emergent Contestatory Films, Media Culture, and Public Diplomacy 269 5. Iranian, but with a Different Accent: A Cinema of Displacement or a Displaced Cinema? 369 Appendix A: Iranian Films in Distribution 513 Appendix B: Film House of Iran's Film Collection 515 Appendix C: International Film and Video Center Iranian Film Collection 520 Notes 523 Bibliography 559 Index 591

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Book SynopsisGil Z. Hochberg examines films, photography, painting and literature by Israeli and Palestinian artists. Israel's greater ability to control what can be seen, how, and from what position drives the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The artists Hochberg studies challenge Israel's visual and social dominance by creating new ways to see the conflict.Trade Review"Both Visual Occupations and Digital Militarism are ultimately about the gaze, about the ability of Israelis to see themselves as perpetrators and about the ability of Palestinians to return, refuse, or otherwise manage the disciplining gaze of military and international aid organizations alike. Kuntsman and Stein, and Hochberg all demand that their readers see a long violence in pictures of events that might be taken as spectacular or ruptural, in images that seem to show nothing at all." -- Jenna Brager * The New Inquiry *"Hochberg's is a timely and important book that demonstrates that the Israeli occupation of Palestine is determined in and by the visual realm and through the shape of visual fields.... Visual Occupations reveals the great extent to which the Israeli occupation of Palestine is interwoven and deeply embedded in the visual politics of cultural production—informing its content, framing, form, message, and even execution—yet the visibility of this influence is not always apparent." -- Sara Rodrigues * PopMatters *"Ariella Azoulay, Eyal Weizman,Neve Gordon, and others have created a rich corpus of work on spatial inequality in the region, to which Hochberg adds a vital and innovative dimension in her exploration of its visual field. Organized according to the key concepts of concealment, surveillance, and witnessing, Visual Occupations provides a lucid, incisive analysis of the unequal visual rights that sustain the Zionist project." -- Alessandra Amin * Art Journal *"Visual Occupations is an important and provocative book. Hochberg’s discussion of the place of the visual in this 'conflict' that is no longer consigned to a secondary or background subject within the scholarship on Palestine/Israel is a most welcome addition." -- Kiven Strohm * ReOrient *"Hochberg’s study is firmly grounded in the familiar analysis of the politics of visuality, focusing on who can see and whose vision is obstructed, who can be seen and who is confined to invisibility, and on the violent practices that impose this economy of the visual. . . . To achieve both a fruitful general framework and a careful study of the specificities of each practice and each artistic manifestation of the visual power-struggle, Hochberg also incorporates in her close readings various other critical perspectives, such as queer studies, film studies, psychoanalysis, and the politics of ethics." -- Orly Lubin * GLQ *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ix Introduction. Visual Politics at a Conflict Zone 1 Part I. Concealment 1. Visible Invisibility: On Ruins, Erasure, and Haunting 37 2. From Invisible Spectators to the Spectacle of Terror: Chronicles of a Contested Citizenship 57 Part II. Surveillance 3. The (Soldier's) Gaze and the (Palestinian) Body: Power, Fantasy, and Desire in the Militarized Contact Zone 79 4. Visual Rights and the Prospect of Exchange: The Photographic Event Placed under Duress 97 Part III. Witnessing 5. "Nothing to Look At"; or, "For Whom Are You Shooting?": The Imperative to Witness and the Menace of the Global Gaze 115 6. Shooting War: On Witnessing One's Failure to See (on Time) 139 Closing Words 163 Notes 167 Bibliography 187 Index 207

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Book SynopsisIn Visual Occupations Gil Z. Hochberg shows how the Israeli Occupation of Palestine is driven by the unequal access to visual rights, or the right to control what can be seen, how, and from which position. Israel maintains this unequal balance by erasing the history and denying the existence of Palestinians, and by carefully concealing its own militarization. Israeli surveillance of Palestinians, combined with the militarized gaze of Israeli soldiers at places like roadside checkpoints, also serve as tools of dominance. Hochberg analyzes various works by Palestinian and Israeli artists, among them Elia Suleiman, Rula Halawani, Sharif Waked, Ari Folman, and Larry Abramson, whose films, art, and photography challenge the inequity of visual rights by altering, queering, and manipulating dominant modes of representing the conflict. These artists'' creation of new ways of seeing—such as the refusal of Palestinian filmmakers and photographers to show Palestinian suffering oTrade Review"Both Visual Occupations and Digital Militarism are ultimately about the gaze, about the ability of Israelis to see themselves as perpetrators and about the ability of Palestinians to return, refuse, or otherwise manage the disciplining gaze of military and international aid organizations alike. Kuntsman and Stein, and Hochberg all demand that their readers see a long violence in pictures of events that might be taken as spectacular or ruptural, in images that seem to show nothing at all." -- Jenna Brager * The New Inquiry *"Hochberg's is a timely and important book that demonstrates that the Israeli occupation of Palestine is determined in and by the visual realm and through the shape of visual fields.... Visual Occupations reveals the great extent to which the Israeli occupation of Palestine is interwoven and deeply embedded in the visual politics of cultural production—informing its content, framing, form, message, and even execution—yet the visibility of this influence is not always apparent." -- Sara Rodrigues * PopMatters *"Ariella Azoulay, Eyal Weizman,Neve Gordon, and others have created a rich corpus of work on spatial inequality in the region, to which Hochberg adds a vital and innovative dimension in her exploration of its visual field. Organized according to the key concepts of concealment, surveillance, and witnessing, Visual Occupations provides a lucid, incisive analysis of the unequal visual rights that sustain the Zionist project." -- Alessandra Amin * Art Journal *"Visual Occupations is an important and provocative book. Hochberg’s discussion of the place of the visual in this 'conflict' that is no longer consigned to a secondary or background subject within the scholarship on Palestine/Israel is a most welcome addition." -- Kiven Strohm * ReOrient *"Hochberg’s study is firmly grounded in the familiar analysis of the politics of visuality, focusing on who can see and whose vision is obstructed, who can be seen and who is confined to invisibility, and on the violent practices that impose this economy of the visual. . . . To achieve both a fruitful general framework and a careful study of the specificities of each practice and each artistic manifestation of the visual power-struggle, Hochberg also incorporates in her close readings various other critical perspectives, such as queer studies, film studies, psychoanalysis, and the politics of ethics." -- Orly Lubin * GLQ *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ix Introduction. Visual Politics at a Conflict Zone 1 Part I. Concealment 1. Visible Invisibility: On Ruins, Erasure, and Haunting 37 2. From Invisible Spectators to the Spectacle of Terror: Chronicles of a Contested Citizenship 57 Part II. Surveillance 3. The (Soldier's) Gaze and the (Palestinian) Body: Power, Fantasy, and Desire in the Militarized Contact Zone 79 4. Visual Rights and the Prospect of Exchange: The Photographic Event Placed under Duress 97 Part III. Witnessing 5. "Nothing to Look At"; or, "For Whom Are You Shooting?": The Imperative to Witness and the Menace of the Global Gaze 115 6. Shooting War: On Witnessing One's Failure to See (on Time) 139 Closing Words 163 Notes 167 Bibliography 187 Index 207

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Book SynopsisThis volume assembles leading experts in policy, history, and activism to address Israel's continuing environmental transformation from the biblical era through its future aspirations, with a particular focus on the past one hundred and fifty years.

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